AYDEN—For nearly 30 minutes, South Lenoir and Ayden-Grifton were practically joined at the hip.

Neither team led by more than five points, and the game looked as if it were headed for a heart stopping finish — until SL’s Luke Whaley calmly drilled a 3-pointer from the right elbow to put the Blue Devils up by seven with 2:33 left in the game.

The clutch bucket turned the momentum completely in the Devils’ favor, keying a game-ending 15-3 run as SL ran past the Chargers, 55-43, in an Eastern Carolina 2A Conference clash at Bob Murphrey Court Tuesday night.

“Luke hit a huge shot that really started the momentum to swing in our direction,” SL coach Jeremy Barnett said. “We seemed to get an extra gear there at the end. You could tell that shot really fired us up.”

Ayden-Grifton led by one at the half and the game was tied heading into the fourth quarter, as the two league rivals battled each other point-for-point.

The Chargers (8-9 overall, 1-4 Eastern Carolina 2A) had led 26-21 in the third period, while SL (13-4, 3-3) had led by as many as four in the first quarter.

The Devils were again leading by four, 44-40, when Whaley connected from beyond the arc.

AG managed just one basket and a single free throw in the final 2:33, missing six shots, three free throws and turning the ball over three times.

The Chargers turned the ball over on nine occasions in the final period and had 23 for the game.

“That many turnovers against a good team is a recipe for disaster,” Chargers coach John Moye said. “We didn’t take care of the ball with the game on the line and we didn’t step up on offense. We got out of our offense and let the game get away from us.”

It was the Devils who got out of their offense in the first half.

“There was too much ‘me’ rather than ‘we’ in the first half,” Barnett said. “I challenged them at halftime to play as a team and we did a much better job in the second half.”

Whaley ended up with nine points, seven in the final 8 minutes for the Devils. Jonte Midgette scored six of his 13 in the fourth stanza. His jumper from 14 feet gave SL its first double-digit lead, 52-42, with 1:12 remaining.

Jaquan Wooten finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Devils before fouling out with 3:20 left.

Jahkevous Edwards led the Chargers with 13 points and 10 boards but marred his fine effort with an unnecessary intentional foul in the final seconds long after the outcome had been decided, a development that didn’t sit well with Moye.

“I told him the foul was uncalled for and reflected poorly on our program and our school,” Moye said. “I let him know it would not be tolerated if we wanted to play for Ayden-Grifton High School.”

Girls’ game:

The Charger (3-14, 2-3) played their best game of the season and surprised the Blue Devils, 59-43, in a game that was never really close after the break.

AG outscored SL, 33-18, over the middle quarters, led by Jasmeane Johnson and Destiny Dixon, both of whom finished with 17 points.